The present invention relates to a connector case, ultrasonic probe and ultrasonic imaging apparatus, and particularly to a connector case containing an electric contact assembly, an ultrasonic probe comprising such a connector case, and an ultrasonic imaging apparatus comprising such an ultrasonic probe.
An ultrasonic imaging apparatus scans the interior of a subject to be imaged with a beam of pulsed ultrasound, receives an echo, calculates image data corresponding to the intensity of the echo, and produces an image commonly referred to as a B-mode image based on the image data. This process is sometimes referred to as B-mode imaging.
Moreover, the ultrasonic imaging apparatus calculates a Doppler shift of the echo of pulsed ultrasound, and produces a color image representing dynamics of blood flow etc., which is commonly referred to as a color Doppler image, based on the Doppler shift. This process is sometimes referred to as color Doppler imaging.
Furthermore, the ultrasonic imaging apparatus obtains a Doppler signal of an echo of continuous wave (CW) ultrasound, and displays the signal as a frequency spectral image and as a sound (Doppler sound). This process is sometimes referred to as continuous wave Doppler measurement.
In any of the above-described imaging or measurement, an ultrasonic probe is used for transmission of the ultrasound and reception of the echo. The ultrasonic probe is connected to a body of the imaging apparatus via a flexible cable. A user takes the ultrasonic probe in the hand, and uses the probe by abutting it against a desired portion on the subject to be imaged.
A plurality of types of purpose-specific ultrasonic probes are kept handy, and an appropriate one of them is selected for the purpose at hand and used by connecting the probe to the imaging apparatus body. The connection of the ultrasonic probe with the imaging apparatus body is established by a connector. The user connects the ultrasonic probe to the imaging apparatus body by inserting the connector provided at an end of the cable of the ultrasonic probe into a receptacle provided in the imaging apparatus body; and removes the ultrasonic probe from the imaging apparatus body by withdrawing the connector from the receptacle.
The orientation of the connector in which the connector can be inserted into the receptacle is fixed and the connector has a structure such that it cannot be inserted in orientations other than the fixed one. However, the user may, by mistake for example, sometimes attempt to insert the connector forcibly in a wrong orientation and break the connector or receptacle.